


Wounds

by WinchesterBitchface



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Amnesia, Gen, Hurt Gabriel (Supernatural), Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode: s13e17 The Thing, s13e17 Coda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 02:50:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14251467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinchesterBitchface/pseuds/WinchesterBitchface
Summary: After Dean and Ketch leave for the apocalypse world Sam is left alone to tend to Gabriel's wounds.





	Wounds

The rift flashed a final time as Ketch walked through and Sam was left alone in the bunker.

Well, almost alone, had it not been for the shivering archangel in the chair behind him. Sam turned back to Gabriel.

He was in terrible shape. Sam had removed the wire from his lips and he had been calm enough then but now the flashing rift seemed to have agitated him again. His entire body was covered in dried blood and filth including his hair and clothes. Sam sighed.

"Alright, Gabriel, let's get you cleaned up."

He advanced towards the archangel slowly, in an effort not to startle him. The smaller man was still sitting down so Sam lowered himself to try and not seem as imposing as he thought he did. He had been through a lot, and even if Sam didn't know what exactly that was, he understood that he probably wouldn't react all positively to being touched. Therefore, he also understood when the angel almost fell out of his chair and let out a scared whimper when Sam had come within arm's reach of him.

"Gabriel, wait, it's okay I'm not going to hurt you.", he held his hands up, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible. Gabriel's eyes were still wide with fear so Sam didn't try to approach him any further.

"Look, I understand you're afraid. Whatever Asmodeus did to you must have been horrible. But I'm sure you'd feel a lot better when you're clean and in a more comfortable room than this.", he smiled and let his hands sink, "I just want to help you."

Gabriel calmed a little at that but his posture was still defensive. Sam decided that it wouldn't do any good to force the angel into this and thought of a new plan.

"Okay, you're not comfortable with this, that's alright. I know someone who you might feel more familiar with so I'm gonna go give him a call, okay?"

He didn't recieve a response from the archangel who's head had dropped down again. He sighed. This would take a lot of work.

He went to the map room and took out his phone.

"Hello, Sam."

"Hey, Cas, any news on Lucifer?"

"Nothing. How has your search for the Seal of Solomon been going?"

"Pretty well. We found it actually.", he scratched the back of his head, "And we also found something else... something we really need your help with. Where are you right now?"

"I'm in Lincoln, Illinois. What exactly do you need help with?"

"It's Gabriel. He's alive -", he wanted to explain the situation further but was interrupted when Cas said "I'm on my way." and ended the call abruptly.

Sam put his phone down. On the way back to the war room he noticed a blanket on one of the shelves lining the sides of the room took it with him.

The chair in which Gabriel had been sitting was empty.

A surge of panic hit him as he turned around to look for the archangel. He considered shouting his name but thought better of it as this would most likely scare him even more.

His search came to a quick halt as he discovered the broken angel huddled in a dark corner of the room between the wall and a bookshelf.

Sam took the blanket he had grabbed and approached him slowly, crouching further down with every step he took until they were on eye-level careful not to corner the smaller man. "Gabriel", he called quietly and the archangel's head shot upward eyes glistening with fresh tears, "I'm not here to hurt you. This is a blanket", he held it out to him,"It will keep you warm. I promise it's safe." He turned it around in his hands.

Gabriel's wary eyes darted between Sam's face and the blanket until he tentatively reached out a hand and touched the material with his fingertips. Sam didn't move an inch. Seemingly deeming the object safe, the angel took it with a weak grip and pulled it towards his chest.

Sam slowly moved to sit with his back to the bookshelf next to Gabriel.

"I called your brother, Castiel.", he said quietly. Gabriel's head turned towards him. "He's two states over but he'll be here in a couple hours."

Silence fell upon them. Sam leaned his head against the books and closed his eyes.

Way too much had happened today. First Dean almost got sucked up by an interdimensional tentacle monster, then Ketch welcomed them in the bunker and surprised them with his switch of sides and a living Gabriel, and then his brother decided to waltz right into the apocalypse universe without him.

He heard a faint ruffling noise beside him and turned his head.

Gabriel had folded the blanket open and spread it over him. Sam smiled as he looked up at him with a less fearful expression than before.

"Do you even remember me?", he asked quietly.

The angel's face became more uneasy again. Sam mentally punched himself.

Gabriel's eyes dropped to the floor as he seemed to try and see through the fog that was clouding his mind.

"My name is Sam Winchester. The last time we met was about eight years ago.", Sam kept his voice quiet and relaxed. The last thing he wanted to do was push the angel into anything.

Gabriel pressed his eyes shut and shook his head as tiny sobs escaped his newly opened mouth.

Sam instinctly moved to put an arm around him but thought better of it and only turned towards him, holding out his hand just in case the angel wanted to take it.

"It's okay if you don't remember now, Gabriel. A lot happened to you and we only met a few times anyway. Just, please, try to relax, we can sort this out when you've rested."

He slowly got to his feet again, making sure Gabriel could see all of his movements so he wouldn't startle him. The hunter remained in a crouched position in front of the archangel.

"I'm gonna go get the first aid kit now, alright?", he dipped his head to prompt a message of approval or disproval from the smaller man. Gabriel eyed him with apprehension but then gave a small nod before dropping his head again.

"Okay. I'll be back in a minute."

Sam made his way to the bathroom to retrieve extra bandages since he assumed the ones in the first aid kit wouldn't suffice. He also washed his hands amd filled a small bucket with warm water and drenched a towel in it before returning to the war room.

Coming from the hallway he noticed how dark it was in the corner Gabriel was sitting in as the only source of light in the room was the rift. He approached the archangel and, kneeling down, carefully set the first aid supplies and the water bucket down next to him.

"Alright, I've got some stuff here that I can use to make you feel a little better." He took the bandages, gauze, tweezers and ointment he had brought from the  
kit and laid them out between him and Gabriel so he could see them all clearly. Pointing at the tweezers first he began.

"These might look a little scary but they're just a tool to hold things so I don't accidentally infect you with my hands.", he moved to the small box of ointment, "This will help your wounds heal faster. It might sting a little but that's only for a short moment and then it'll feel a lot better.", he held up the bandages and gauze, "These are for covering your wounds so they won't get infected."

Sam ended and gave the angel a chance to look at all the items more closely. Gabriel had listened intently and now tentatively reached out a hand to brush over one of the bandages before nodding slowly.

"I'm not going to force you into anything you don't want to do or endure. Before I can use these things I will need to clean your wounds", he held up the wet cloth from the bucket, "and for that I will need to touch you. If you're not comfortable with that I won't do it. This moves at your pace." He let his hands drop to his knees and smiled at the archangel.

There was a pause in which Gabriel's eyes flickered over the items in front of him again, then over the bucket and finally over Sam's kneeling form. He gave a small nod.

"Does that mean I can touch you?"

Meeting his eyes, Gabriel nodded. There was still fear in them but it was overshadowed by desperation. Sam knew that how hard it had to be for the archangel to allow him to touch him like this after Asmodeus' torture. Overcoming that fear in the face of yet another stranger had to take a lot of courage and Sam admired him for it. He silently vowed to himself never to allow that demon prick anywhere within a 10 mile radius of the angel again and use the first chance he got to kill him.

He put on the medical gloves and took the towel from the bucket.

"Alright. If it's okay I'll start with your face now."

Gabriel responded by lifting his head a little and Sam began to carefully dab at the area around the wounds, rinsing the towel when it had gotten too dirty.

He then took the ointment and held it up for the archangel to see.

"I'm going to apply this now."

A nod from the archangel was the confirmation he needed as he began rubbing the cream onto the skin on Gabriel's face before bandaging a particularly large cut on the side of his head.

"The other wounds on your face are not so large that they need to be bandaged. If it's alright I'll start with your shoulders and arms now."

He worked his way along the angel's body, always making sure to tell him what he was going to do next.

When he looked at Gabriel's arms he felt chills run down his spine. It hadn't been that evident under the rags he was wearing but the small man's body was bony, looking like that of a starved human.

Sam wasn't even sure if angels in vessels could starve since they didn't actually need to eat.

Then again, this was Gabriel. He had lived off sweets and candy for something like a couple thousand years.

"Hey", Sam put a hand on his shoulder, "when we're done here, would you like something to eat? We don't have much of what you'd like but there should still be some pie in the fridge if you want."

Gabriel raised his head and looked Sam in the eyes. The look in them was one of confusion first but when Sam smiled it shifted into gratefulness.

He nodded and gave the tiniest smile.

Sam smiled even wider. "Alright. But let's get this done first."

The archangel didn't hang his head this time but rested it on the wall behind him. Sam took this less fearful gesture as a good sign and finished cleaning up the wounds.

"Okay, let's go then." He lifted himself to his feet again but remained in a crouched position, reaching out one hand for the angel to take if he needed to.

Gabriel pushed himself up but staggered a bit as he reached a standing position and grabbed Sam's arm.

"Easy there." He reached down and took the blanket that had fallen to the floor. He draped it around the archangel's shoulders again since he was still wearing nothing but thin rags.

They walked like this to the kitchen. Slowly making their way down the steps with Gabriel's hand not leaving Sam's arm.

He sat him down at the kitchen table and began preparing the pie for Gabriel.

"Dean won't be too happy about this.", he said setting the plate down in front of the angel, "But I guess he'll have to deal with it since you're more important right now. And he shouldn't eat too much of this stuff anyway." He smiled. So did Gabriel.

Once he was finished Sam offered his arm again which Gabriel gladly took. They walked to Sam's room where the angel took a look around and then carefully sat down on the bed.

"Alright, I didn't really have time to prepare a room for you yet so how about you stay here for a few minutes and I'll get to that real quick."

He smiled and turned to the door again when he heard a sound from the angel.

He turned back.

Gabriel was looking at him with pleading eyes, prompting a muttered "Oh shit" from him before he went to sit down next to him.

"Or should I stay until Cas arrives?"

Gabriel nodded and dropped his head against Sam's shoulder. He hesitantly reached an arm around him and rested his hand on the angel's other shoulder. Gabriel allowed it.

Sam smiled when the angel slid a little closer and applied gently pressure to his shoulder to let him know it was okay. The angel made a small sound and Sam leaned closer to understand him better.

"What was that?", he asked quietly.

Gabriel looked up at him.

"Thank you... Sam."


End file.
